Houseplant · Strelitziaceae
Bird of Paradise
Strelitzia reginae
Hand it all the sun you've got and give it a few patient years, and the crane flower pays you back with one of the most striking blooms you can grow indoors.
Full sun
50–81°F · 10–27°C
USDA 10–12
3–5 ft · 0.9–1.5 m
Overview
The bird of paradise lives up to its name the second it blooms, when an orange-and-blue flower opens out of a beak-shaped bract that honestly looks like a crane taking off. It's a clump-forming perennial out of South Africa, grown all over for those bold flowers and its wide, banana-like leaves. Most folks treat it as a houseplant, but somewhere frost-free it's just as content outside.
What does it want? Light and time, basically. This plant craves every bit of sun you can offer, and it simply won't flower tucked in a dim corner, no matter how perfectly you water it. It also takes its sweet time. A young one can spend several years building up before it blooms even once, so it's the patient gardener who gets the payoff.
Once it's comfortable, looking after it is pretty easy. Keep it warm and steady, give it humid air and a pot it can nearly burst out of, and it'll thrive. The two ways people trip up are a soggy mix and too little light. Nail those, and the rest mostly sorts itself out.
Care
The short version: put it in the brightest spot you've got, keep the soil moist but never soggy while it's growing and drier in winter, hold up the humidity, and let it sit a little pot-bound to draw out the flowers.
Light
Hand this plant as much direct sun as it can get, ideally a south-facing window or your brightest outdoor spot. Sure, it'll put up with partial shade, but light is what kicks off flowering, so a dim corner buys you nice leaves and not a single bloom.
Water
While the weather's warm and it's growing, water it freely and keep the mix moist without ever letting it turn waterlogged. Inside, let the top of the mix dry a touch between drinks, then cut way back come winter. Nothing kills it faster than a soggy pot rotting out the roots.
Soil
Set it up in a fertile, well-drained loamy mix loaded with organic matter. Drainage is the big one here, because moisture just sitting around is what brings on root rot.
Temperature
It feels best between 50°F and 81°F (10°C to 27°C) and won't put up with frost. So move container plants inside before the cold rolls in, and keep it above about 50°F (10°C) if you want it to carry on growing.
Humidity
Damp air suits this one, somewhere around 50% to 60%. If your rooms run dry, especially through winter, mist the plant or rest the pot on a tray of damp gravel so the leaf edges don't go brown.
Feeding
Only feed during spring and summer using a water-soluble houseplant fertilizer, every two weeks in spring and up to weekly through summer. Quit feeding in fall and winter, and go easy: pile on too much and you'll get leaves instead of flowers.
Pruning
There's barely any pruning to do. Snip off finished flower stalks along with any dead or really shredded leaves, then give the foliage a gentle wipe with a soft cloth. Steer clear of leaf-shine products, which can gum up the leaves.
Repotting
Only repot when you've really got to, since this plant blooms better when it's pot-bound and too big a pot just pushes the flowers back. Top up the upper few centimeters of soil each year, and bump it to a larger pot only in early spring once roots have filled or cracked the one it's in.
Size & spacing
Indoors it gets to roughly 3 to 5 feet (90 to 150 cm) tall and spreads about 2 to 4 feet (60 to 120 cm) wide, so leave a grown clump plenty of elbow room for those big leaves to fan out.
Troubleshooting
Most bird of paradise headaches come back to light, water, or cold. The leaves are usually the first to clue you in, so find your symptom below and step in before a little slip turns into a real setback.
Yellowing and flopping when the mix is still wet
If the plant's flopping while the soil stays wet, the likely cause is root rot from a waterlogged mix or simply too much watering. Pop it out of the pot, snip off anything brown and mushy, and replant in fresh mix that drains fast. After that, only water once the top has dried, and let it run on the dry side over the cooler months.
Fix:
- Remove from pot and cut away rotted roots
- Repot into fresh, fast-draining mix
- Water only after the mix has dried slightly and ensure good drainage
Black, floppy leaves once the cold hits
Frost is a hard no for this one, and leaves left out near freezing go black, soggy, and floppy. So bring containers inside ahead of the first frost, and once the cold's gone, just trim off the leaves it ruined. If you want it to keep growing, don't let things drop below about 50°F (10°C).
Fix:
- Bring container plants indoors before first frost
- Remove damaged foliage once danger of frost has passed
No flowers, year after year
Nine times out of ten the answer is not enough light, because a grown plant really wants near full sun before it'll push out those crane-shaped flowers. Want the other big reason? Time. A seedling or a fresh division needs years to bulk up to blooming size. Skip the bigger pot, since the plant flowers best when it's a little pot-bound, and back off the feed if you're seeing loads of leaves and zero blooms.
Fix:
- Move to the brightest possible spot with several hours of direct sun
- Allow the plant to mature and become pot-bound rather than repotting
- Replace only the top layer of soil yearly instead of up-potting
- Reduce fertilizer if foliage is lush but flowers are absent
Webs, white fluff, or brown specks turning up
Kept inside, this plant tends to attract the usual sap-feeders. Spot fine webbing with speckled leaves? That's spider mites. Fluffy white clusters mean mealybugs, and little brown bumps clinging to stems and leaves are scale. Give the leaves a wipe, hit them with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, and keep the plant away from your others until it's clean.
Fix:
- Wipe leaves with a soft cloth
- Treat with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil
- Isolate affected plants and repeat treatment as needed
Brown, crispy edges along the leaves
Usually it's just dry indoor air, and it gets worst in winter once the heating kicks on. Watering that comes and goes, letting the mix go bone dry, only adds to it. Bump the humidity up toward 60% by misting or setting the pot on a tray of damp gravel, water on a regular schedule, and keep the feed going while the plant's growing.
Fix:
- Raise humidity by misting or standing the pot on a tray of damp gravel
- Water consistently so the mix does not dry out completely
- Feed regularly during the growing season
Big leaves tearing along the veins
Good news: this isn't a problem at all. Those wide paddle leaves tear along their veins by design, so wind slips right through them instead of pushing them around like a sail. The plant's perfectly fine. Want the leaves to stay in one piece? Move an outdoor plant somewhere more sheltered.
Fix:
- No treatment needed - splitting is a natural response
- Move outdoor plants to a more sheltered spot if intact foliage is desired
Toxicity
This plant is mildly toxic, with the irritating stuff packed into the fruit and seeds. A curious pet that has a chew is more likely to end up with a queasy belly than anything serious, but it still pays to keep the flowering stalks and any dropped seeds out of reach. And don't get it confused with the much more poisonous shrub that goes by the same common name.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Mild
Should a cat snack on the fruit or seeds, you might see drooling, vomiting, and a generally sluggish mood. It tends to clear up by itself, though it's worth a vet call if the signs hang around.
Dogs Mild
You'll likely see a bit of nausea, some throwing up, and a dog that's low on energy. Since the irritants live in the fruit and seeds, a few chewed leaves are much less of a concern.
Horses Mild
A horse that helps itself to the fruit or seeds can wind up queasy and dull. Best to keep those flowering stalks well out of reach anywhere horses graze.
Rabbits Caution
The gut irritants that trouble cats and dogs aren't any kinder to a rabbit. Don't let one nibble the plant, and stay on top of sweeping up any seeds that drop.
Livestock Caution
Goats, sheep, and cattle can come down with a sour stomach from the fruit and seeds. A quick mouthful rarely does much harm, but the plant's no good as forage.
Birds Caution
Don't give pet birds a chance to peck at the seeds or fruit. Treat the whole thing as off-limits and put out some safe greens instead.
People Caution
Nothing on this plant is meant for eating, and the fruit and seeds can leave you with an upset stomach. Make sure little kids don't pop the seeds in their mouths.
Toxic principles are concentrated mainly in the fruit and seeds
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Plain orange is what most people grow, but there's one named pick that's worth getting to know.
'Mandela's Gold'
A real eye-catcher that swaps the usual orange for yellow and purple flowers, lifting out of a grey-and-pink spathe.
How to propagate
You've got two ways to make more of these, and they go in completely different directions: one's quick, the other really tests your patience.
DivisionModerate
Early spring, when the clump is root-bound · Divisions can flower within a year or two
Splitting the rhizome clump is your shortcut to flowers. Tackle it in early spring once the plant has filled its pot, slicing the clump into chunks that each hold onto a fan of leaves plus some root. A solid division can bloom within a year or two, way ahead of anything grown from seed.
SeedDemanding
Fresh seed, germinated warm (75-90°F) · Germinates in 6-12 weeks; 4-10 years from seed to first flower
Seed is the route for folks with real patience. Start with fresh seed, keep it toasty at around 75°F to 90°F (24°C to 32°C), and even so it needs 6 to 12 weeks just to break ground. After that? You're waiting 4 to 10 years for the first flower, which is exactly why so many people go the division route instead.
Myths
This crane flower is basically the shrubby bird of paradise under another name, and just as poisonous.
All they really share is a name. This crane flower is Strelitzia reginae, which the ASPCA flags as only mildly toxic, good for a touch of stomach upset and not much else. The shrub people sell as bird of paradise is something totally different, Caesalpinia gilliesii, and that one's a lot more poisonous. The ASPCA flat-out warns you not to mix them up.
Ragged, split leaves must mean the plant's unwell.
Nope, those tears are completely normal. The broad paddle leaves split along their veins on purpose to let wind blow through, and it shows up most outdoors or in a draft. There's no harm done at all, and the only way to keep the foliage whole is to shield it from wind.
Sources
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension
- Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC
- Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)
- UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions
- Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control
- Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew